Steve Palopoli

Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s annual adaptation of Charles Dickens’s "A Christmas Carol" runs through Christmas Eve at the Veterans Memorial Hall at 846 Front St. in Downtown Santa Cruz. The classic yuletide tale, which is directed by Charles Pasternak and Alicia Gibson, stars Mike Ryan as Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future – played by Andrea Sweeney Blanco, Julie James and Charlotte Munson. Luke Shepherd provides music direction for the production.

This Bay Area production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ emphasizes the actual carols

December 14, 2025 at 7:24 a.m.

The key to the classic holiday tale – an actual Christmas carol -- is right there in the name, and yet almost everyone overlooks it.

Winchester Mystery House historian Janan Boehme stands next to the second floor “Door to Nowhere” in the famed San Jose, Calif. home, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

In the spirit of history: Winchester Mystery House, reconsidered

December 12, 2025 at 8:11 a.m.

Ok, yeah, there are no ghosts. But here’s why the Winchester Mystery House is crucial to preserving San Jose’s architectural past.

Santa Cruz Shakespeare dress rehearsal of "Pericles" by William Shakespeare and George Wilkins. The play which runs through Aug. 30 in the Audrey Stanley Festival Grove is directed by Santa Cruz Shakespeare Artistic Director Charles Pasternak and features Paige Lindsey White in the title role. Photo by Shmuel Thaler

Pirates, brothels and … the Bard? One of Shakespeare’s least-known plays gets rediscovered in Santa Cruz

August 22, 2025 at 5:06 p.m.

The play runs through Aug. 30 in the Audrey Stanley Grove in Santa Cruz.

Spotlights illuminate the night sky during the Orinda Theatre 75th anniversary gala celebration in Orinda, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016. The 800-seat art deco theater was built between 1937-1941 by local developer Donald Rheem. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Five Art Deco landmarks in the Bay Area that preservationists love

June 27, 2025 at 4:09 p.m.

If you look closely, you can find a lot of Art Deco in the Bay Area.

Iconic Santa Cruz actors Julie James, top, and Mike Ryan play the Ghost of Christmas Present and Ebenezer Scrooge in Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s staging of “A Christmas Carol” playing at the Santa Cruz Veterans Memorial Building through Dec. 24. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)

New production’s Scrooge on why the Muppets – and so many others – lied to us about Dickens’ classic character

December 4, 2024 at 6:30 a.m.

Everything you thought you knew about Ebenezer Scrooge is ... wrong?? Apparently, the Muppets lied to us. Now, a new Santa Cruz Shakespeare production of the Dickens classic tells the...

Former foster youth Breeaunna Lynn, left, and Aleta Smith are hoping Fostering Promise can provide the support they lacked as teens. They took part in a strategic planning session for the organization at Sobrato Center for Nonprofits in San Jose, Calif., on Oct. 11, 2024. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Wish Book: How can foster kids prepare for life after they leave the system? A new South Bay nonprofit has a plan

December 4, 2024 at 4:38 a.m.

Ambitious effort hopes to launch a pilot program in the Bay Area – focusing on teens from Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo, San Francisco and Contra Costa counties – by...

Jason Cosentino stands against a tree at the Cosentino Family Farm in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

Unique fresh fruit from Silicon Valley’s past, modern culinary flair come together at Cosentino Family Farm pop-ups

August 24, 2024 at 12:06 p.m.

Cosentino Family Farm will hold their latest pop-up on Saturday, Aug. 24, with special guest Chromatic Coffee. The pop-ups are the latest chapter in a story of the farm that...

Patty Gallagher, left, sits with Paige Lindsey White, right, at Santa Cruz Shakespeare in the Audrey Stanley Grove in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

They don’t usually take lead roles, but these two actors are key to the success of one of the Bay Area’s most acclaimed Shakespeare companies

August 18, 2024 at 3:13 p.m.

What can you say about a company of Shakespearean actors whose "Hamlet" can make you laugh, and whose "As You Like It" can make you cry?

Gerardo “G” Garay, left, a personal trainer at the Timpany Center, works with Kenny Prieto, who has cerebral palsy, in the pool at the center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Wish Book: Doctors said they’d never walk. But at San Jose’s Timpany Center, they do.

November 28, 2023 at 3:20 p.m.

Hope floats at unique facility that emphasizes disabled access, movement therapy.

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